The Lightdrinker
by FlyinJapman
Summary: A series of logs left by the mythical "Lightdrinker", a fallen Guardian whose existence was kept secret by the Vanguard...until the Tower fell to the Cabal. (WIP)


Initial Log:

"This is a message log, in a long series of logs, for any Guardian that has become a trusted associate of the man known as The Drifter. My name is Yoku. The Praxic Order knows me as "The Lightdrinker" among lesser flattering names. I am someone whose existence has been kept secret per orders of the Speaker and the Order...because I am someone they fear both politically and militarily. You see, I am a...fallen Guardian. A corrupted. Or whatever the correct terminology is for a Guardian who turned his back to the Light and walks in the Darkness. No, not the same as the Shadows of Yor...They still have a connection to the Traveler. They still have their Ghost. I am fully Lightless. My power is completely taken from the Deep. I won't lie to you, I've killed Guardians. Devoured their Light. Became powerful from it, as Sword Logic demands. However...in contrast to what the Speaker would tell you, I do not hunt Guardians. Not usually, I should say. When a Guardian goes out of their way to find me, usually with intent to destroy something it sees an it's natural enemy, then I have every right to end them. I am not a murderer...I am a survivor. I chose a path that worked for me...even if the Speaker never wanted to admit it. I'm going to tell you all about me, and what I do now. I must disclaim that there will be things you don't understand even if I was able to explain it, and things that I can't explain entirely."

Log 1 - Marked:

"I started out as a fresh faced Hunter. I was confused, scared, and disoriented as we all were when some floating eyeball brought us back from the dead. When I was stationed as one of Cayde's people, I was all in. I wore my cloak with pride, using these amazing powers to burn, shock, and deatomize all four-armed freaks that crawled out of the dirt. Eventually, I started to feel doubt about how efficient our efforts were. It seemed that no matter how much ground we got...no matter how many Fallen we killed...We were still 'vulnerable'. Still weak. Still not 'ready' to extend our influence to other places than below the Traveler's shadow. It was still too dangerous, they'd tell me. What dangers could we possibly face? We're GUARDIANS. We die, we resurrect. That...is when I learned about the Hive. After learning what I could about them, from Ikora...Zavala...and even Cayde, if you can believe it...I became intrigued with them. Their power, I should say. I should have figured there was something out there to rival the Light since all things have some sort of balance, right? Well, the Hive have the Darkness. Evil, as the Vanguard would call it. Just...evil. And evil was not what Guardians were. I knew that the concept of "good and evil" was only as subjective as the society deems based on their local culture. Light was good, Dark was bad. That's how it is. Power is not good nor evil...only how you applied it could be deemed so. When I said this, and began to question the strength of the Light compared to the Darkness that nearly destroyed our people...I became marked. I was warned by the Vanguard, the Speaker, and the Praxic Order that if I were to continue to commit this...heresy...they'd do something drastic. Turns out "drastic" means an unsupported mission to the moon. Which, at the time, was a restricted area due to the dangers of the Hive, of which I knew very little about. I was to go to the moon, and go down into the Hellmouth. Face the Hive until I learned all that I wanted about their power. Or, I should say, until I "investigated" their current activities. I thought to myself, 'Best case scenario, they want to scare me. Rekindle my faith in the Light. Worst case scenario, they want the Hive to kill me.' I am a Guardian. I wasn't afraid.

Log 2 - Humility:

"When I got to the moon, using the coordinates the Vanguard gave me, I was disappointed to see that there was Fallen on the moon...It's like we can't get away from them. These Fallen, however, seem less interested in killing me. They knew I was there, but they kept their distance. Watched me with their angry eyes. I rode my sparrow to where I was told to go to the Hellmouth. A big fortress crescending around a big hole in the ground. There was an entrance that I took that went down into the Hive stronghold. It was...well, you've been there. Dark, dusty, scattered bones everywhere. The atmosphere was heavy. Like there was some humidity in the air...but of course, there is no atmosphere on the moon, so there was no air. The further I went down, the thicker it was. At one point, I asked my Ghost how far down we were...but he was gone. Somehow along the way, he vanished. It was just me down there now. Alone. But I wasn't scared. Just a bit worried. So long as he was alive, I would be fine. That was before I knew what the Hive were capable of with their construction. Eventually, I encountered the Hive. Lesser ones, Thralls and Acolytes. Frail, but numerous. I spent...I don't know how long down there, shooting, incinerating, and smashing the vast hordes of Hive. I think I also killed a few Knights and Wizards too. I eventually got tired of being down there, seeing that the Hive is just as much of a pain to fight as the Fallen, and I did as best of a 180 as I could to return to the surface. Along the way...I encountered one of them. A Shadow of Yor. He had told me that word of my inquiry was circulating around the Tower, so he wanted to find me. We spoke for a while, and he told me all about the Hive. Or what he knew of them. They had power that they got be worshiping the Darkness, gifted to them though what is known as "Sword Logic". They have spent millions of years waging a war against the Traveler, destroying worlds and becoming stronger all along the way. The Shadows, as he told me, wanted to weaponize the Dark. Use it to defeat the Hive and the rest of Humanity's enemies. To become better than what they were. He told me about Dredgen Yor...which is a name that all Gunslingers know. The story was far more complex than what we were told. Firstly, he wasn't a Hunter. He was a Titan, so I'm sure that would burn Zavala a bit since he and his Titans are so proud of their legacy...But he too sought out the Darkness as a power to help his people...but he became corrupted. Turned into a killer who brought a lot of destruction down on our people. Shin Malphur, the Renegade, took him down with his famous Golden Gun. Now, he runs amok hunting down the Shadows who wander too far from the Light. If he heard of me and my curiosity, then so did Shin. I need friends to watch my back. The man also told me that the Praxic Order was trying to kill me for my...dangerous thinking. That my Ghost was waiting for me with one of their members at the surface. I was right to think they were doing something like that, but what stung the most was that my Ghost was so...obedient to abandon me down in the dark. I became angry. Felt it swelling inside me. It was treachery.

While the Shadow spoke, I saw the most sinister looking Cannon on his hip. I asked about it, and he said it was a Thorn. Based off of the weapon Dredgen Yor wielded during his rampage. All Shadows had one, made it as an initiation ritual for newcomers. I asked if I could see it, hold it...and he strangely let me. I liked the way it looked. The charcoal grey finish, the glowing neon green lighting, and the spikes that protruded out of it. He told me how Yor killed a Guardian with his. Just one shot, and his Light was gone. His Ghost couldn't revive him. I thought, 'That's just ridiculous.' So, I shot the Shadow. Right in the throat. His Ghost resurrected him, and he became angry at me for doing that. I asked why he didn't die, and he said they always cleansed the weapon so they couldn't get corrupted with it...and so it was Crucible legal. As he explained, we heard a loud roar down in the depths. He turned to see what might be coming...and I shot his Ghost. It vaporized in a burst of radiant mist. The Shadow gasped as his Light vanished from his body, and he turned to me. At that moment, I felt my anger intensify...magnified by my realization that Ghosts can die. Guardians...can die. I said to him, 'It seems you are the one who needed friends to look out for you.' I shot him, one last time, with that sickly weapon. He was dead. For good. I took his Thorn. I felt no remorse for it. I returned to the surface. Where my Ghost was waiting with a Praxic Warlock."

Log 3 - Descent:

"They were waiting for me at the open entrance of the Hellmouth, up on a nearby hill. As I approached, the Warlock walks down to me and asked me what happened. They detected the death of a Ghost down below...and where I got this Thorn. I hadn't noticed, but I was still grasping the grip of the gun firmly, with agitation. I looked down at it, the reflected sunlight shimmering off of the sand onto the grey finish of the barrel. The vents and the orbs embedded within it released a small amount of vapor, emitting an arcane energy. The Praxic asked me again, this time with annoyance in his voice. I felt a surge of rage once again ignited within me, the anger I had for the intent the Speaker and his...zealots...had for me simply for doing what Warlocks did. Asking questions. One that needed to be asked. To be answered. The anger that brewed from the betrayal of my Ghost for leaving me to die in that hole. I raised the looted prize to the Warlock's head, and he became panicked. I tried talking his way out of my aim, but his tone didn't help him. Arrogant Praxic. Self righteous Warlock. His Ghost tried to speak for him, and the moment it appeared, I shot it. Like the Shadow's, it burst into luminous mist and metallic strips. I saw the Light evaporate out of the Warlock. The sudden disconnect from his precious Light caused him to stumble, and drop his gun. He fell to his knees, clutching his chest and gasping as if the air had been knocked out of him. He looked at me, fear beginning to show in his eyes. He realized what was going to happen to him. I approached him, and put my gun against his helmet.

He begged me to reconsider, claiming that this whole thing wasn't his idea. It was what the Speaker wanted. He wanted to teach me fear of the Dark, and humility for the Light. To remind me that the Light was a gift that I shouldn't take for granted. I said nothing to him. Now my Ghost was pleading for me to spare him. That what I was about to do was wrong. That he was not at fault for this situation. That I was the one who got us into this with my prodding. I shot him. His helmet shattered, and blood spewed out of the back of his head and on to the Lunar sand. And before my Ghost could ridicule me again for my actions, I shot him too. The loss of my Light was like getting punched in the chest by a horse. A horse that kicked hard enough to hurt through armor. For the first time in a long time...I felt weak. Alone. Vulnerable...but at the same time I felt free of burden. Like I broke free from a chain I didn't know was there. I gave Earth one last look before turning back to the depths of the Hellmouth."

Log 4 - Tests:

"The dark halls of the Hive fortress felt different without the Light. The air was thinner...more inviting...as if trying to tell me there is something here for me. I wandered aimlessly now, not knowing nor caring where I was or where I was going. Death was here in these chambers. For me, and those who opposed me. I killed many more Hive as I walked. I eventually stumbled into this large chamber, where a sword was kept. I was suspended over a hole in the floor, held up by an unknown force. I looked over the large blade, and I could see some sort of energy coursing through its sharp end. The same energy I see when I looked at my Thorn. I began to reach for the sword, and I could feel something watching me. I grasped the hilt and pulled it from its mantle, and as I did, four large Knights armed with their own swords emerged from the black water on the floor. Defenders of the blade. This sword was important to them. I thought I was going to die this time, but I wasn't going to go down without a fight. I held out the sword, pointing the blade's end at the four monsters and declared, ' This is MY sword now, and if you want it back, you will have to pry it from my corpse.'

The fight was just a blur. I can't remember how I managed to win...but I did. all that remained of those four protectors are their weapons and their dust. It was this moment that I first heard the voice of the Darkness. It spoke to me in a cold whisper,

'You did not turn your back on the Light. The Light turned its back on you. Your test was not humility; it was endurance. Adaptation. Evolution. To become more than they wanted you to be. To be a master, not a servant. Not to worship a god, but to be revered as a god. To become equal to god. Their god. You were cast from the warmth of the Sky, to drown in the cold of the Deep, but you live. You struggled to survive...to exist. Sword Logic; existence is the struggle to exist. Your will to exist, even in the face of what was an inevitable death, changed your reality. The Deep grants you favor of power of Sword Logic. Use it to prove you deserve to exist, take your enemy's power for your own. Devour the Light that doomed you.'

And I said to it, " I need not hunt the Light, as it will hunt me. When the Tower learns of what happened here, they will send more. I will wait for them to come, and I shall take their Light if they so wish to gamble it away for a false purpose."

The Darkness tested me. I passed, and it gave me power to equal that of my former self. Solar, Arc, and Void were at my disposal as it had been before. Now I just need to use it to gain more power.


End file.
